Preparation of Gold Nanorods and Their Applications in Photothermal Therapy

Gold nanorods (GNRs) have recently been widely studied due to their unique optical and electronic properties which are dependent on their shape, size, and aspect ratio. Seed-mediated growth method has become the most widely method for the synthesis of GNRs due to its advantages of simplicity of procedure, high yield of nanorods, and ease of aspect ratio controlling. Moreover, GNRs are especially attractive candidates for exploitation in photothermal therapy since they can be readily synthesized with various aspect ratios, which enable GNRs to selectively absorb the near-infrared (NIR) light. This review is focused on summarizing the preparation of GNRs by seed-mediated growth method and their applications in photothermal therapy.